It sometimes seems like you’re more likely to hear a New York state legislator’s name as the target of an indictment than as the author of a bill.

But does the recent wave of corruption allegations and arrests indicate the presence of more wrongdoing, or the effect of more sunshine? How do politicians deemed to have been corrupt see themselves? And with the Michael Grimm-Domenic Recchia race in the forefront, how does an allegation of corruption play as a campaign issue?

To answer those questions, Brooklyn Independent Media brought Azi Paybarah of Capital New York and Gotham Gazette’s Ben Max to hang out with me at The Emerson Bar in Clinton Hill. Watch our chat below.